Thompson Gets His 15 Minutes
Former senator John Edwards started the trend. Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Sam Brownback, among others, followed suit. And now, late into the primary season, Fred Thompson too is announcing his candidacy via an online video, to be posted on his Web site at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
The difference is, Thompson's video announcement clocks in at 15 minutes -- longer than Edwards's, Clinton's Obama's and Brownback's combined. In the YouTubesphere, the length of a video, especially a politically-oriented video, is often as important as its content. And 15 minutes, some online strategists said, "would feel like an eternity." Even for the telegenic Thompson, who played New York City Disrict Attorney Arthur Branch in the popular TV show "Law & Order."
"Maybe the video is aimed at the 'Law & Order' audience that's used to Branch's long speeches in the court room before commercial breaks," quipped Colin Delany at epolitics.com. "Or maybe his campaign haven't been paying attention on what works on sites like YouTube." Added Dan Manatt of PoliticsTV.com: "It's a big red flag that his announcement video is that long. It seems that Fred Thompson is not only late to the party when it comes to election, he's late to the party when it comes to figuring out how to do an announcement video."
Officials at the Thompson campaign were eager to explain the video's length. As the latest candidate to announce a White House bid, the former two-term senator is unknown to most Americans, and the video, aides said, is his "official statement to the electorate." It's part bio-pic, part motivational pitch that distinguishes Thompson from the crowded Republican field, said Eric Livingston, who heads the campaign's online team. "The senator didn't jump into the race a year ago," Livingston added. "People haven't heard as much from him."
Thompson, who's been "testing the waters" and blogging up a storm on conservative sites since early this year, has assembled a solid online team, one of the strongest among the Republican contenders. Livingston served as acting eCampaign director at the Republican National Committee. He's aided by Mike Turk, who served as Internet director for President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and is considered one of the most innovative online operatives in the business, and Todd Zeigler of the Bivings Group, a Washington-based online communications firm.
In a dig to the length of other campaigns' announcement videos, Livingston said, "I don't think anyone can explain why they're running for president in two minutes." Clinton's video clocked in at 1 minute and 53 seconds.
-- Jose Antonio Vargas
Posted at 5:37 PM ET on Sep 5, 2007
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Posted by: grannyhelen | September 6, 2007 7:17 PM
Paying attention to what Youtube is all about lends more credibility as to the amount of time a candidate puts into his online campaign. I think that Youtube is one of the major factors in the SIPP Index form what I gather. There seems to be a slight correlation.
Posted by: jtemple2 | September 6, 2007 10:00 AM
Let me see if I can summarize the problems the media has with Fred Thompson:
His first name is funny. At 40, his wife is too young yet she's also smart, cunning and influential, a deadly combination...in a spouse of the female persuasion. Hollywood keeps casting him in "men in charge" roles. Fred missed the media deadline for entering the presidential race even though the media kept extending their deadline. He hasn't raised enough money to run for President but he raised too much money not to run for President. He worked his way through college/law school, was a US Senator, was on the Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission, was special counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, was special counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was special counsel to the Governor of Tennessee, was an Assistant US Attorney, was minority counsel to the Senate Watergate committee, and was a lawyer in private practice, all of which demonstrate that Fred Thompson is a lazy man. The Fred Thompson charm apparently mesmerized his first wife, and the girlfriends he had when he was single, to publicly support his run for President. On the other hand, the much loved President Nixon didn't like him, an ominous sign, for sure. As a lobbyist, Fred Thompson got paid for trying to persuade influential people, an activity the media certainly recognizes since they do it on a daily basis. As part of a previous political campaign, he drove around in a red truck, a source of amusement and a red flag for big city media types. He wore expensive shoes to the Iowa State Fair, a miscalculation sure to inflame all of those barefoot/sneaker wearing people in flyover country. And now we have the most heinous act of the Fred Thompson campaign sure to send potential voters screaming from his side: HE MADE A VIDEO THAT WAS TOO LONG!
Posted by: laurazzcap | September 6, 2007 8:22 AM
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Given the length of the accolades for Thompson here, one would have to assume that 15 minutes for a campaign ad is probably speaking to his base.
Now, whether that flies with the vast majority of the voting and blogging public remains to be seen.